SOURCE: “One Voice More on Berlin's Doctrine of Liberty,” in Political Studies, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, March, 1989, pp. 123-7.

In the following essay, Polanowska-Sygulska defends Berlin's wariness of positive freedom.

Sir Isaiah Berlin's famous essay on political freedom, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’,¹ was described by Professor Marshall Cohen as ‘academic, inflated and obscure’.² It is perhaps an indication of the value of the essay that it should produce such a violent reaction. However, this characterization of the essay has relevance to the problem of political liberty itself for there is no doubt that the concept is of its nature obscure. Nevertheless, though philosophically so vague, the burning issue of liberty cannot be treated as merely academic in the contemporary world. Let this serve as justification for my adding one more voice to a long and complex discussion.

I

Participants in the debate have recognized different threads of Berlin's essay...